THERE has been tremendous interest from private collectors and Irish and English dealers in the de Veres sale next Tuesday evening of a lifetime of paintings by the late artist Phil Rafferty. She exhibited her work only once in her lifetime and never sold any of her paintings.

Auctioneer John de Vere likens the event to the mass auction of works by Mildred Ann Butler around 20 years ago in London. There are no estimates in the catalogue, but with over 160 paintings and drawings on offers, collectors with just a few hundred pounds to spend will almost certainly be able to buy.

On the same evening John de Vere will auction a small selection of modern and contemporary Irish art - 70 or so lots ranging from scenes by Percy French to Charles Brady's big but restful White Sofa (£1,500-£2,000). Notable works include a fairly typical Paul Henry Kerry landscape (£12,000-£15,000); an early surrealistic but dark work by Colin Middleton, The Heavenly Milkmaid (£4,000-£6,000); Daniel O'Neill's colourful Foreshore, Co Antrim (£3,000-£5,000); a tiny Leech oil of boats in Concarneau (£3,000-£4,000); and Martin Gale's terrific picture of a man wobbling on a bike on a muddy boreen, called Returning Home (£1,400-£1,800).

Those with hundreds not thousands to spend could pick up Henry Lamb's funny drawing of Sir John Lavery dwarfed by his easel for less than £600, while a watercolour of Brendan Behan, used for the front cover of an edition of Borstal Boy is estimated at £500-£700.